The Student Union Memorial Center is having trouble filling its vacant shop space, but union managers are choosing to target the same types of businesses that already pulled up stakes.

Rather than deciding what kinds of businesses students should frequent, union managers should broaden their scope of possibilities for attracting student dollars.

The spaces had formerly been rented by Union Bank, which closed in late May, hair salon Fantastic Sams, which closed in July, and U-Mart, which relocated to a larger union location this summer.

While union managers have not decided whom to court for the former U-Mart space, they are in negotiations with another bank and hair salon to replace the ones that closed because of slow business.

Managers may be able to persuade a bank and a salon to move in by year's end, but sacrificing business variety to a paternalistic vision of student life is inappropriate. The free market has spoken: Open the space to other bidders.

Fantastic Sams left its pad equipped for another hair salon to easily follow, meaning it would be easier to use the space as it stands. But that won't make its replacement more profitable.

Yes, the spaces will need renovation, and it will be worth it. Success will not follow the timing of their opening, but the value of their products to the UA community.

Perhaps the original plan is not the solution. Students are different from off-campus customers; we want variety, not products pre-packaged for our demographic.

What about a newsstand, a drug store, a cell-phone shop, a laundry service, a flower shop, a fruit and vegetable stand, a camping-gear dealer or a shoe store?

If union managers are at a loss for ideas or bidders, they should put out suggestion boxes and advertise the vacancies more aggressively to local businesses. Plenty of options would quickly become apparent.